After Colony: Tiberium Awakening
by Reiji Neko Mitsukai
Summary: Gundam WingCommand & Conquer: Tiberian Sun: Firestorm crossover The Gundam Pilots suddenly wake up on a war-torn Earth twisted by alien organisms. Can they survive long enough to discover what happened to the world and themselves?
1. Awakening

Disclaimer: I only own the girl.

Author's note: Another random fic. Man, they just love to crawl out of the woodwork, don't they? Anyway, this is a Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun: Firestorm/ Gundam Wing crossover. I know; what MORE can I do to our poor pilots? Just wait. I got a lot more stored in my mind.

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It felt like he was floating when he came to. His eyes were closed and he couldn't hear anything. He was comfortably warm and felt completely relaxed.

'_Where... am I? How did... I get here? When did I... fall asleep?..._' These thoughts crossed his mind all at once, and he tensed up.

'_Where are the others?!_'

He instinctively tried to take in a sharp breath with the realization of the thought, but instead got a quite a bit of water. His blue eyes snapped wide open in shock. He found himself in a metal capsule of some sort, with a full-length glass window in front of him. He could see what was outside, but it didn't matter to him; he was completely submerged in water, and he had no way out.

He immediately began to thrash about as his lungs began to burn. He twisted around as he searched for an escape, a way to free himself from his watery prison and into the sweet, blessed air. He felt tubes brush up against the back of his hand, and he began to claw at them in blind panic. His lungs were now screaming and he ripped at the tubing, hoping they would cause an exit to open.

Just before he was sure he was a goner, he heard a faint hiss, and the water started to drain. He whirled around to see the glass window slowly opening on a hinge. He smiled with relief and let the flow carry him out to, what felt like, a paradise.

Instead of a paradise, however, he landed on his hands and knees in hot, wet sand. His fingers gripped the earth as his back arched, his wet braid sliding off of his bare back. His arms shook wearily as he retched and coughed up the water he had breathed in. Water and saliva dripped from his mouth as he took in deep breaths, his eyes staring at the shadow he cast upon the grains of sand. His bangs were plastered to his forehead. The piercing panic dulled to throbbing anxiety as he slowly got to his feet. He immediately registered immense heat, because, as he found out, he wasn't wearing anything but his favorite black boxers. Looking ahead, he could only find sand as far as he could see.

A sudden noise to his right startled him, and he turned as quickly as he could towards the sound. He saw a capsule, similar to his, just a few feet away from him. The window, however, was covered with cracks that ran like spider webs across the entire surface, water spurting out in random places. Then a shattering noise sounded and bits of glass and water spewed forth, a tightly clenched fist emerging from the center.

Duo jumped back a little as the rest of the window was broken, a soaking wet and dark red boxer-clad Heero jumping from the opening towards Duo, leaping over the sharp shards and safely landing on his hands and knees in the wet area caused by Duo. There he immediately began removing the water from his lungs, heaving and coughing.

Duo got down on one knee beside him. Worry was evident in his eyes and voice. "Heero? You okay, buddy?"

"Yeah....." he managed to say between gasps for breath. Duo got back to his feet and offered him a hand. He accepted and together they got Heero to his feet.

"Where are we?" Heero asked as he pushed back a wet lock of brown hair, gazing at the miles of sand before them.

"No clue," admitted Duo. "I don't even recognize the area."

Heero suddenly and quickly walked to the left of Duo's capsule, leaving Duo staring at the sand. He turned to see Heero standing in front of yet another similar capsule, his blue eyes grim and focused. He was staring through the glass at the serene face on the other side. Duo stood beside him.

"Oh..... My..... God....."

There, nearly floating inside the capsule, was the uni-banged pilot known as Trowa Barton. His face was calm, and it looked like he was asleep. His muscular arms were crossed over his chest like an X, his hands resting on his shoulders. Dark green boxers were his only clothing. His hair covered his left eye. He looked every bit like someone who was lying in their coffin, awaiting to be buried.

Duo looked further to his right and saw two other capsules beside Trowa's, all standing neatly in a row. He ran over and put a hand on the glass of the fourth, then looked over at the fifth and put his other hand on the warm glass.

The fourth capsule contained Quatre, the blonde Arabian with his arms crossed over his chest in an X, just like Trowa. His only article of clothing was his yellow boxers. His face was so calm it unnerved both pilots. He made no movement to signify he was even alive.

The fifth and final capsule held the Chinese warrior himself, Wufei Chang. Dark blue boxers were his only coverings. Just like his companions, he looked very much like a corpse waiting for burial.

Duo, scared and worried for his friends, began to franticly look for a button or handle to open the glass doors. "There's got to be a way to open these things!" he growled.

It was Heero who noticed Quatre's face twitch as he swept over the capsule with his eyes. "Duo!" he urged as he pulled on the American's left shoulder. The braided boy jerked his head around to see Heero looking intently at Quatre's still form. He turned to see Quatre's expression change from peaceful to a grimace of pain. His body tensed and his shoulders jerked a little. His eyes, however, remained closed.

Duo felt his heart skip a beat with relief. "He's alive!" he cried. "Quatre's alive!" He began to pound on the glass in hopes of reviving his friend. "Quatre!!" he yelled. "Quatre, wake up!!"

At first, there was no response from the teen inside. Then his eyes suddenly snapped open, terror reflected in the aquamarine depths. Bubbles burst from his mouth and floated to the top of the capsule as he tried to scream. A hand immediately shot to his throat as he inhaled water, the terror in his eyes increasing. He looked at Duo, pleading for him to find a way to get him out of the capsule.

"Damnit!" Duo cursed as he pounded on the glass.

It was then he noticed the blinking red light. It was about the size of a quarter, and was level with Quatre's shoulders. A second glance revealed that it was sticking out just a fraction, meaning it was a button. He quickly reached up and slammed his fist down on it.

There was a loud beep, then the glass door began to open. He backed away as Quatre was washed out onto the sand, landing on his hands and knees as he forced himself to cough up the water he had inhaled. Both Duo and Heero were at his side in an instant, Duo patting his back to help him expel the water.

"Uh..." groaned Quatre once the water was gone. He began to take deep breaths as they took hold of his arms, gently helping him up to his feet.

"Are you going to be okay man?" Duo asked. Quatre nodded, his eyes closed as he attempted to calm himself. The immediate terror was gone, but a sense of danger and uneasiness still remained.

"Quatre, do you have any idea as to where we are?" Heero asked him.

Quatre looked at their surrounding area then shook his head. "No. It doesn't look familiar to me. Sorry."

"Well," said Duo, attempting to keep his friends from getting depressed. "At least we know how to get Trowa and Wufei out when we need to."

"Speaking of which..." Quatre walked over towards the third capsule, looking up at Trowa with concern in his eyes. "Why were we put in these things?" he asked as his mind leaped ahead to find a reasonable explanation. Maybe a few remnants of hard-core OZ believers had them confined? But how could have they without a fight? He didn't remember anything about a fight, or the capsules they were trapped in.

He was so deep in thought; it was no wonder he cried out in surprise when Trowa's one visible eye snapped wide open, his pupil contracting to the sudden exposure to light. Heero rushed up and slammed on the blinking button; two beeps were heard, then the sound of two glass doors opening. Quatre turned to see the door to the fifth capsule opening, Duo standing nearby, his hand still over the button. Both of the newly awakened pilots fell to the sand, coughing and gasping.

"You alright Wufei?" Duo asked as he helped the Chinese pilot stand up.

"I'm fine," he said between gasps for air.

Heero and Quatre helped Trowa regain himself. After a few minutes, all five pilots were situated enough to organize themselves and plan their next move.

"Okay," said Duo. "Let's make a list of what we know."

"We're in a desert," said Wufei.

"In our underwear," added Quatre.

Duo blinked. This wasn't quite what he had in mind.

"We apparently got here in those," Heero said, glancing at the capsules.

"You know," said Trowa. "I don't remember anything about those. The last thing I remember is all of us being at Quatre's."

"Me too," said Duo, wringing out his braid.

Quatre timidly raised his hand. "Um excuse me? But could we go find some clothes? I don't want someone finding us out here in just our skivvies."

"I agree," supported Wufei, looking down at his dark own blue boxers. "They won't give us much protection from anything."

Trowa scanned the horizon, shielding his eyes with his right hand. He spotted something and pointed it out with his left hand. "Look," he offered.

The others turned and shielded their eyes as well. Heero's eyes narrowed.

"Buildings. Possibly a city. It's a ways away, but we should be able to make it by sundown."

"Great! Then let's go!" Duo enthused.

----

The five boys stood beside each other in amazement. Their eyes scanned the area in front of them with disbelief.

"Well," sighed Duo. "So much for the city idea..."

The "city" was laid in ruins. Large white skyscrapers were lying in chunks on the ground. Some remained standing, but it appeared half of the building had been ripped away or blown off. The roads were cracked and stained with blood. There appeared to be no living inhabitants.

Quatre just stared at the destruction in front of them. He couldn't believe that this used to be a city. How many people used to live here? How many were killed? How many corpses are lying on the road? Had any escaped? Was there anyone left to help them?

"I don't like this..." Duo mumbled to himself. His bangs had dried, but his braid was still heavy with moisture.

"We have to check it out," said Heero, his eyes locked on the remains of a tall office building. He didn't like it either, to be honest. But they still needed some decent clothing.

They all walked into the city, stepping over the pieces of pavement where the road was abruptly cut off.

"What on earth could cause this much damage?" wondered Quatre as he stepped over a chunk of pavement that was as high as his knees. His hair had completely dried in the hour it took for them to walk here.

"Most likely a war of some kind," responded Trowa as they continued walking into the ruins. Only his bangs were wet, as they were the longest.

"Nuclear?" Wufei offered. His hair, being black, was the first to completely dry.

Duo suddenly averted his path, running to their left until he kneeled down on one knee about ten yards away. The other four followed him and stood beside him; Heero and Wufei on his right and Quatre and Trowa on his left.

Duo sadly shook his head. His voice had a sad tone to it. "Definitely not nuclear."

It was a girl, approximately their age. She was wearing baggy jeans and a black T-shirt. She had red hair that was full of tight waves. She would have been very pretty, if it weren't for the bullet hole in the middle of her forehead. Duo gently opened her left eye to reveal pretty green eyes staring blankly back at them. The pupil of the eye had no reaction to the sudden exposure to light. She had been dead for a long time, judging by how the blood that ran down her face and matted her hair was dry and crumbling.

Duo again shook his head. He hated this. Whoever did this obviously had no regard for civilians. From the way the area looked, they just shot them on sight. Frankly, it seriously ticked him off. But he had time to be angry later.

Quatre became horrified when Duo began to try to take the girl's shirt off. He took a step back. "Th-this isn't right! We can't just take the clothes from their bodies! It's just not right..." He drifted off as he saw the look Duo was giving him. He could clearly see just how much this hurt Duo. He could see the moisture that was threatening to gather, but was being fought off to the best of Duo's ability.

"I don't like it either, Quatre," he said with a calm tone as the other three walked off to find clothing. "I didn't want to do this. But we don't have a choice. But if we can stop this," he paused, looking down at the girl, then looking back at Quatre. "From ever happening again to anyone else, it would be worth it, right?" He had managed to keep his voice calm throughout, giving the scene and eerie feel.

Quatre could feel the hotness behind his eyes, but he fought against it. He numbly nodded his head, lightly rubbing his upper arms as a sudden chill ran down his back.

Duo nodded back. "Go find yourself some clothes. It's going to get colder later."

Quatre nodded again, then slowly turned and walked off towards the nearest body.

----

It was another girl. She appeared to be about fifteen years old. Her hair was a sandy blonde and cut short, about to the base of her neck. She was wearing glasses with small, round lenses on her face. She was also wearing regular blue jeans and a hooded sweater. The sweater, although a faded gray, was stained with large red spots surrounding four small holes where a bullet had gone though. She had been shot four times in the chest.

Quatre got down on his knees, still looking at the girl and saying silent apologies. But the second he touched her clothes, he felt a torrent of pain; pain that wasn't his own. He almost fell backwards from the initial force. He flinched and brought his hand back to his chest, staring wide-eyed at the corpse before him.

It wasn't physical pain he was feeling. It was emotional. Like a sharp piercing of a needle was wedging itself in his heart. It almost hurt physically. She hurt so much; she probably welcomed her demise.

Quatre fell backwards, landing on his rear. He began to try to put some distance between him and the body. '_What's happening to me?!_'

----

Wufei didn't have to walk far before he found a body. Kneeling down on one knee, he saw that the girl appeared to be fifteen, the same age that he was when he began to fight OZ. She had blonde hair that was cut to her jawbone. She was wearing a white tank top and baggy blue jeans. The left pant leg of the jeans were stained red, mostly around a bullet hole. Another bullet wound bloodied the girl's left shoulder, and then finally a hole in the side of her head. Wufei's mind quickly assumed that she had been shot in the leg as she tried to run, shot in the shoulder, then, after being allowed to writhe in pain for a bit, put out of her misery.

Wufei shook his head. '_She was too young to have to go though this,_' he thought to himself. '_She shouldn't have had to find out what it felt like to be shot. No one here should._' He felt it, deep in his gut- was it guilt? Guilt that they hadn't arrived sooner? Guilt that he couldn't have helped save her life, along with many others? Or was the guilt of his days as a Gundam Pilot finally catching up to him?

----

Heero felt his stomach lurch as he kneeled by the body he had found.

She appeared to be seventeen. She had brown hair that was cut short, about mid-neck in length. There was a bullet hole in her right leg, which Heero assumed was supposed to keep her from running. The last bullet was lodged in her throat, her neck pierced and bloody. Her baggy denim jeans were stained, along with her dark blue shirt that appeared a size too big for her frame. He quickly summarized that the bullet didn't kill her directly; she died of suffocation.

Heero closed his eyes and bowed his head as the familiar words forced themselves into his head. They were words he wished he could forget; a voice he wish he never would have to hear again; and, thanks to that young soldier, he wouldn't have to.

'_This is war!! It is no big deal sacrificing the general pubic! Got it?!_'

"This is all wrong....." he whispered as he opened his eyes, the usually sharp blue orbs softening. "This shouldn't have happened....."

----

The first girl Trowa found appeared to be about twelve years old. She had shoulder-length brown hair that was a bit wavy. She was wearing a rather tight black long-sleeved shirt with a glittery spider and web on the front. Baggy blue denim jeans with a black belt made up the rest of her attire. Both of her shoulders were bloody, and the exit wound to a bullet was formed in her forehead.

"So young....." he said softly, his green eyes developing a shade of sadness. No one should have to go through this at such an age; she never got to live her life.

Trowa gently shook his head. He needed to focus: he needed to find clothes. The girl's pants would fit him; he would need to use the belt, no doubt; but her shirt just wouldn't work. Black and long-sleeved was a bad idea in the desert. He didn't know what she was thinking in the first place. Begrudgingly, he started to remove her pants. It took him a few minutes, but he finally managed to get them on himself. Tightening the belt, he set out to find a shirt.

It didn't take him long. Just down the road another girl lay. She appeared to be about fourteen. She was wearing a green T-shirt with regular blue jeans. She had straight brown hair that went past her shoulders. She was wearing glasses with small lenses. There were a total of three bullet holes: one in her stomach, one in her chest, and one in her forehead. The shirt was stained, but still usable.

As Trowa put the shirt on, him mind raced to find an explanation. What was the reason for such slaughter? These were innocent civilians- adolescents even- and yet they were still being killed. It just didn't make sense. These people couldn't fight back; so why were they being treated as enemy soldiers? Who would be psychotic or sadistic enough to do such a thing?

----

The five young men met up near a damaged office building, fully clothed.

"Okay," said Duo, looking at each of his companions before he finished. "So what's our next move?"

"We find living people who can tell us exactly what's going on." Heero hoped he would never have to take the "leader" position again after all that time it meant life and death for all five of them. But now he had no choice; if he and his friends were to live, action needed to be taken immediately.

"I'd like to find out what date it is too." Quatre's voice told everyone he was uneasy- scared even- but something else was wrong. He sounded disturbed, and he kept looking at the buildings around them as if they were haunted.

Duo's brow furrowed slightly as he noticed his friend's perturbed look. He waved his hand in front of Quatre's face. "Quatre? You okay man?"

The blonde Arabian blinked and refocused his eyes on the braided American. "I'm fine, but..." He continued to look at the buildings, the distant look in his eyes returning. "This place feels like... well, like something's wrong."

Duo snorted. "Besides the fact that we're standing in the middle of a ruined city with dead people all around us?"

"This place feels... strange," continued Quatre, ignoring Duo's comment. "It feels different from the Earth I remember. Like something's here that wasn't before."

"I agree with Heero," said Wufei, looking at the people around him. "If we can find someone living we might be able to get the information we need."

Duo kicked at the road underneath him, watching his shoes scuff the asphalt underneath. Both of his hands were behind his back. He looked a lot like a little kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, trying to hide his eyes behind his brown bangs. "You guys go ahead. I'm going to stay here and look for survivors."

Wufei cocked an eyebrow. "What makes you think that anyone- if anyone survived, that is- would want to stay here after that... that massacre?"

"I'll go with him," Quatre said suddenly.

The other three young men gave the two strange looks, but then just shrugged and accepted it.

"What'll you guys be doing?" asked Duo, raising his head to look at Heero and folding his arms in front of him.

Heero turned and looked over his shoulder. "I thought I saw something further down in the desert over there. I think we should check it out."

The braided American nodded. "So we'll just follow your footprints when we're done."

"Right. We'd better hurry; we don't have much time left before it gets dark."

The group then separated, the Arabian and the American heading deeper into the city while the others moving out towards the desert.

----

It took Heero, Trowa, and Wufei an hour to walk to what Heero had seen, and it wasn't what they were expecting. From far away, it looked like a bunch of small, oddly shaped buildings. But now that they were close, they realized it was something else entirely. Their lower jaws dropped open and their eyes widened.

The crystals were about as high as the young men's knees. They were a solid shade of bright green. They were gathered into what looked like an unorganized field about four football fields large.

The shock wore off after a few minutes. Then Heero stepped closer and kneeled by the closest crystal to inspect it closely.

"What... are these things? I didn't think crystals could grow this big..." Wufei awed.

Heero carefully reached out to touch one of the crystals. He got about an inch away before he suddenly brought his hand back. "Don't touch them," he warned as he stood up. "They burn."

"They burn?" asked Wufei incredulously.

The blue eyed young man just showed his friends his hand. His fingertips were red where a layer of skin had been burned off.

The other two previous Gundam pilots moved next to their friend and stared at the crystals. A few moments passed before the 01 pilot turned and took a few steps away, his eyes scanning the ground. He bent down to pick something up, then straightened again and walked back to his friends. They saw a small rock in his hand, about the size of a ring. Without a word, gave it a light toss into the field.

The rock hit the side of a crystal with a "ting" and bounced, flying another foot and a half before hitting the side of another crystal and flying another foot and a half. It continued in a similar zigzag pattern until it got about twelve feet away from the boys, who were standing amazed at the distance it had traveled. The rock bounced into two crystals that were right next to each other, then fell to the ground between them with a "thunk".

Wufei turned to his friend that had tossed the stone. He blinked a few times as one eyebrow raised. "Heero, how much power did you put into that toss?"

No time for words had passed before the area around where the stone had landed suddenly raised itself on four legs.

The three boys jumped back, eyes wide, as the beast; for indeed it was an animal; shook the loose soil from its back.

It was about the size of a large dog. It had black skin, its back growing green crystals similar to those still in the ground. Its muscles were solid looking, almost as if they had been chiseled from rock. The canine-looking head turned towards them, its beady red eyes focusing on them like a laser beam. Its lips drew back as it growled, brandishing razor-sharp teeth. Trowa Barton, being a young man of few words, said the one thing that was on all three of their minds.

"RUN!"

In an instant all three had turned 180 degrees, running as fast as they could back to the city. The beast, however, ran after them and stopped at the edge of the field of crystals. Its body jerked forward four times in rapid succession, each movement shooting a long and skinny green crystal like an arrow from its body. Sand flew forwards as three of the crystals embedded themselves into the ground. The fourth buried half of its length, about five inches, into the back of Trowa's right leg.

It was one of the few times he actually screamed in pain and agony. It was like a searing hot point that seemed to go through the bone and muscle to the other side. The pain spread until it felt like his entire leg was on fire, quickly being consumed while the only thing he could do was writhe in agony. He fell forward; not bothering to try to catch himself before his face hit the sand. His eyes were shut tight and his teeth were bared as he gnashed them together to keep himself from screaming again.

His two companions stopped at the sound of his scream, and now quickly returned to grab him before he could roll onto his back to grab at his leg. The beast chased them no further and shot no more crystals. Heero and Wufei kept running, adrenaline taking its course through their veins as they half carried, half dragged the injured Trowa as he left a red trail in their wake.

----

Duo and Quatre had searched the city for an hour, going down each street individually and checking each of the bodies they encountered. Needless to say, they were becoming less and less spirited as each moment passed. They had gotten about halfway through the city before they found themselves walking in the middle of the road, surrounded by the ruins of once great buildings.

Duo sighed, watching the cracked road pass underneath him as he walked. "It seems pretty hopeless, man. I'm starting to think that there's nobody alive here but us."

Quatre shook his head. "No; someone's out here."

The American looked up at him, one eyebrow lowered slightly. "What makes you think that?"

"I don't think. I know."

"How can you- Hold it!" Duo cut himself off, his voice suddenly becoming hushed and urgent. He took hold of the sleeve of Quatre's shirt as he suddenly stopped, making his friend stop as well.

Quatre became alarmed. He knew that when his American friend used that tone, he was serious. He turned his head to look at the braided young man beside him. His own voice became urgent as well. "What? What is it?"

Duo just stood rooted to the spot, staring forward, a look of utter concentration on his face, still grasping Quatre's sleeve. "I can hear... vehicles..." He looked at Quatre, his blue eyes mirroring the urgency in his voice. "They're coming! Hide!" He gave his friend a small push towards the ruined buildings as he let go of his shirt. They split up, each going to the buildings on their side of the road, Duo to the right and Quatre to the left. The building the American ran to had the first floor still standing, so he ran through the doorless doorway and crouched down against the wall facing the road, finding a small bullet hole to watch what was going on.

Quatre ran to a building similar to Duo's, only this one didn't have a bullet hole to see out of; just lots of large holes big enough for the Arabian to crawl through in an army style. So he stayed on his knees near the doorway, with one eye looking out at the road.

For a few moments, silence prevailed. Then a low rumbling could be heard in the distance, getting louder and louder until the very ground they kneeled on shook. Quatre saw the giant dust cloud approaching from the way he and Duo had come down the street. The roar of engines being revved became audible, and soon small dots became visible. The dots grew and took shape. Quatre's jaw dropped and his eyes widened as a multitude of armored vehicles came speeding by. The armor was always red and accompanied by weapons. First it was motorcycles; each with one driver and a rocket launcher attached to the right side. Then there were odd vehicles, like a wide, fairly flat vehicle that was armed with a machine gun trailing the motorcycles. Then came the tanks, large vehicles with large barrels attached to a freely rotating top section of the tank used purely for attacking. And behind them, far back enough so they wouldn't notice the blonde head quite yet, were jogging infantry. They were armored with the usual red armor, including a complete helmet with tinted visors. Each man carried a hi-tech and heavy looking gun, looking at their surroundings as they passed. The blonde Arabian could see something moving behind the squad of infantry, but it was then he got the vague feeling that someone was right behind him.

A split second later a hand shot over his mouth, muffling his yelp of surprise. He was suddenly yanked backwards, his back and everything above it being forcefully held against a warm body. His eyes were now wider than ever and his breath quickened. A low and whispered female voice with a warning tone enveloped his right ear.

"If you value your life you'll keep quiet."

--------

Author's note: Wow, this thing took me a REALLY long time to type. And even longer to post. I hope you guys like it, because this is going to be a long one.


	2. Wounded

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone who was ever in the game or in the show.

Author's note: Whoo hoo! Next chapter! On with the story!

---- 

Quatre's breath became faster. Frankly, he was terrified. An army of some sort was passing by while he and his friend hid in destroyed buildings, and now he had a hand over his mouth and someone telling him to keep quiet.

'_Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me…_'

The voice came back, sounding less threatening, but still urgent. It was still whispered from right next to his ear, and he still couldn't move away from the female that held him captive.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I will let you go, but right now you'll have to trust me and hope for the best. Understand?"

He forced his breathing to slow. The words sounded genuine, but who could tell if this person was being honest? She was right though; all he could do is trust her and do as she said. He nodded slightly, just enough so she knew he agreed.

"Good," whispered the hushed voice. "You'll need to play dead until NOD passes. I'll let you go when it's safe, alright?"

Quatre paced his breathing. He's had to play dead before, when he needed to pass off as a dead civilian. It wasn't easy, but he managed to pull it off. He fervently hoped he could do it again. After a few breaths he felt he had regained enough breath to start acting, and he nodded again.

The female's hand was removed from his mouth and another arm wrapped around his chest. Her other arm loosened from around his chest slightly, and he felt a head rest against the right side of his, the chin resting on his shoulder. He heard her inhale very slowly, so her chest wouldn't rise so fast that someone would be able to tell she was breathing. The blonde Arabian took this as his cue to start. He relaxed completely, letting his head come to rest on his chest. He stilled his breath, finishing his pretend death. He tried to form a mental picture of what he looked like; eyes closed, not apparently breathing, and completely limp. His pale skin and the blood on the shirt would make the scene more believable.

His mind suddenly jumped. Of course! That's why she had her arms around his chest! To cover the bullet holes! If one of those soldiers saw the bullet hole and bloodstains but no wound, they would suspect something.

He suddenly heard the clank of armor nearby, and he listened carefully. He could hear what sounded like two people approaching; quite possibly two from the Infantry he saw earlier.

"Over here!"

The voice was barely audible over the sound of the heavy machinery slowly rolling by, but it was sudden enough to catch his attention. The sound of the two people approaching became closer, and their words became more understandable. Both were male. One was located in front of him, and the other was to his right.

"I could've sworn I saw something move," said the one in front of him. His voice was deeper than the other, so Quatre mentally called him Deep Voice.

"You're full of it; they're already dead." This one sounded younger than the other one, and he was given the nickname Young.

"Shut it," growled Deep Voice. "I'm a higher rank than you, you know."

Young didn't seem to respond to the statement, but rather paused. Quatre wondered for a moment if he was scrutinizing the "bodies". "Kids. Looks like they were a couple."

Deep Voice just snorted in amusement of Young's observation. "So what. They're just corpses now."

Quatre felt a sharp kick to his right thigh with steel boots. He forced himself to have no reaction as he and the girl both fell to their backs, rolling onto their left sides.

"We'd better go," said Young, sounding unfazed by the actions of Deep Voice. "Cyborgs wait for no one."

Quatre's mind gave a shock. '_Cyborgs!_'

He heard the sound of the two men walking away. His mind fumed. He felt sure that this NOD group was the one that destroyed the city and killed the residents. His shoulders twitched with rage.

"Not yet…"

Her words were faint and he could barely hear them, but he got the message. He forced himself to relax and stored his anger for later. He desperately wanted to open his eyes and see the "Cyborgs" he'd heard about, but he knew it was too dangerous. He would have to wait until the female holding him let him go.

Duo Maxwell had an advantage from his hiding place; he could see without being seen. He sat on his legs, his meter-long braid slung over his shoulder and collecting in his lap as he pressed his eye up against the bullet hole to see everything he could.

He lost sight of Quatre after the motorcycles went by, amazed by the technical superiority from what he usually saw. The armor was red and reflected the light of the sun brilliantly. The strange, stocky vehicles armed with machine guns zipped by, riding close to the ground. Large tanks trudged by, looking rather menacing with their large barrels. Then came the Infantry, keeping pace behind the tanks with apparent relative ease. The American watched all these go by, his eyes wide with amazement.

'_I knew it!_' he mentally cried. '_There's a war going on!_'

Then, from the dust left by the vehicles and Infantry, came something that made Duo force himself to hold in a gasp.

It had the head of a human, but the rest of it was purely mechanical. A heavy multi-barreled machine gun replaced their right hands, completely taking up the forearm. A small red eyepiece covered over their left eyes. Wires ran from the head to every part of the robotic body, controlling every movement. They moved slowly, but they looked nearly unstoppable.

Duo felt his hands tremble. His heart pounded so loud he was afraid the abominations would hear and discover his presence. His breath caught in his throat and his jaw dropped. He couldn't stop staring until the last one passed him by; then he noticed that Quatre, who he had last seen peeking out from behind the empty doorway, was nowhere to be seen. Out of the corner of his eye he saw two infantry men join the rest of the army from a large hole in the side of the building Quatre was hiding in.

Duo gasped. What if they caught Quatre? What would they do to him?

He then noticed, thanks to a small hole in the base of the wall, his friend's head and shoulders. His eyes were closed and he showed no sign of breathing. There was something behind him that Duo couldn't identify; but he didn't really care. The first thought in his mind was that the infantry men had shot him. His legs began to twitch. He wanted so badly to get up and run to his friend, but it wouldn't be safe until he couldn't see those… things anymore. Taking his chance, he crawled over to the doorway and peeked around what remained of the doorframe, trying to get a better view of his friend. He knew he couldn't shout to him; it would be too risky.

The wait was agonizing; it felt like it took hours for the monstrosities to disappear. But once they did Duo shot up and out of the ruined building, running for the doorway of the building on the other side. Just before he emerged into the doorway, Quatre's eyes opened and he sat up, the girl that was with him doing the same. They were climbing to their feet when the American ran in, not even giving the Arabian enough time to dust himself off before being caught in his friend's tight embrace, his arms pinned to his sides as a rush of air left him because of the pressure.

"Quatre! You scared me half to death!" He released his friend only to hold his shoulders, holding him an arm's length apart, talking nonstop. The girl was forgotten for the time being. "Are you alright? Did you see those things? They were huge and full of wires; and those tanks were huge and the guys with the armor and-"

The blonde put his hands on his friend's shoulders, looking straight into his blue eyes. "Duo! Calm down! I can't understand a word you're saying!"

Duo stopped talking to take a few breaths. "Okay, I'm fine now."

Quatre released his friend. "Okay. Now, start again, only this time talk slower. You lost me after the 'half to death' part."

The braided boy released his friend also, gesturing wildly with his hands. His mind had kicked back into overdrive, his experiences from the day overwhelming him. "Are you okay? Because I saw the guys leaving and you were laying there and it looked like you were dead-"

"Duo!"

"Right. Sorry."

"Duo, I'm fine."

"Great. Second of all, did you see those… those things behind the infantry?"

Quatre shook his head. "I was playing dead and couldn't open my eyes. What did they look like?"

Duo was still gesturing wildly, trying to show his friend how big they were. "They were about this tall, had a human head, and their guns were this big! They had wires everywhere and they looked scary as-"

"Okay Duo, I get the point," said the blonde Arabian gently as he caught both of Duo's wrists as they swung outwards. "I think you need to sit down."

"Cyborgs," came a voice from behind them.

Both young men turned quickly to see a young woman, about their age, standing before them. She had on a faded teal shirt with faded blue jeans, and combat-style boots. A belt around her hips held a small sheath for a small, army-type knife with a black handle. Over that she wore an open, long, hooded, dark brown trench coat with the hood down. She had straight brown hair that reached past her shoulders and amber-colored eyes. Her face held no emotion as she approached the two young men.

"They're Cyborgs. NOD uses them as an advanced infantry unit."

Quatre, after recovering from his initial surprise, narrowed his eyes in thought as he recognized her voice. "You… You're the one that told me to play dead." His eyes returned to their normal size and a grateful smile appeared. "You saved my life. Thank you."

A faint smile appeared on her face. "I'm Arianna."

"I'm Quatre, and this is my friend Duo," he introduced as he gestured towards the American who now stood beside him.

"Could you tell us what exactly is going on here?" the braided American asked, tilting his head slightly to one side. "Because we're… well, a bit lost."

Arianna shook her head, the faint smile disappearing. "It's too dangerous out here in the city. We'll be safer back at home."

Duo looked at Quatre. "We'll have to get Heero and the others before we go."

"There's more of you?" Arianna asked, one eyebrow slightly lowered.

Duo nodded, looking at her. "Yep. Three of them. They went to go check something out over in the distance over there." He pointed behind him, indicating which direction his friends had gone. "They thought it might be another city or something."

Arianna's eyes suddenly went wide. Her voice held a tone of urgency and she suddenly put a hand on Quatre's arm. "How long ago did they leave?"

"About an hour ago. Why?" Quatre looked concerned. Her eyes were almost scared; why did she have that reaction?

"That's not a city!" She suddenly took both boys by a wrist, and nearly dragged them out of the building and out on to the road, running in the direction Duo had pointed. "A Fiend sleeps in that field! If they disturb it, it'll kill them!"

The two boys were still confused, but the last three words of her sentence were enough to motivate them. They ran alongside her, churning up dust and sand as their feet hit the ground.

It took them fifteen minutes to leave the city, then another fifteen before they met up with the other three pilots. Sand flew as both parties started to slow their running pace to keep from colliding into each other.

"Trowa!" Quatre cried at the sight of his friend lying unconscious in the sand, bleeding with a green crystal impaled into the back of his leg. The five young people surrounded the injured youth

"What happened to him!" Duo cried as he kneeled by his friend's head. Trowa was drenched in sweat and he breathed deeply through clenched teeth.

Before either Heero or Wufei could respond, Arianna quickly drew out her blade. "No time!" She held out the hem of her shirt and plunged her knife into it, running it along until she had cut a good length around the edge. She then severed the strip from the rest of her shirt, handing it to Wufei since he was the closest. "Once I pull it out, tie that around his leg."

"Pull it out! He'll bleed worse!" cried Quatre in a mix of surprise and panic.

The female looked up at him, her face set. "If we don't get that shard out now, he'll die… and then he'll kill us."

Heero's eyes narrowed, almost as if he was carefully judging how much he could trust her. It was a few moments before he spoke. "… Right."

Arianna nodded. "Hold him down. The more he moves, the worse it'll be."

Duo and Quatre held down Trowa's shoulders; Duo on his right and Quatre on his left. Wufei held the wounded leg while Heero held down the other. Arianna shed her coat, then quickly and suddenly put both of her hands around the crystal and began to pull.

Trowa's eyes suddenly opened wide, his pupils shrinking from the sudden exposure. They then shut tightly as he tossed his head back and screamed in pure agony. He began to thrash around, squirming and writhing. Duo and Quatre almost had to put their full weight on him to keep him from moving.

Wufei was using every bit of his strength to keep Trowa from kicking the girl in the face as he struggled. Seeing movement out of the corner or his eye, he risked a glance only to have his eyes widen in shock. Arianna responded to Trowa's movement by tightening her hold on the crystal and pulling harder. Blood began to run down her hands, emerging from between her thumbs and forefingers. The sharp edges of the crystal shard were cutting into her hand and making them bleed profusely. He could only imagine what it felt like, considering what happened to Heero when he almost touched one of the crystals.

"UNH…!"

The shard began to slowly slide out from Trowa's leg. He continued to scream and writhe in a hysterical fashion. The crystal slowly moved for about two inches before Arianna gave it a sudden yank, removing it completely in one swift movement. Trowa gave a final spasm accompanied with a seemingly extra loud scream before collapsing to the sand, falling silent and unmoving. Arianna flung the bloody crystal away from them before cradling her hands, which were still dripping blood. Wufei quickly wrapped the cloth around his friend's leg and over the gaping hole, tying the makeshift bandage on the opposite side of the leg from the wound. It wouldn't be long before the cloth would become soaked, and he knew it.

Quatre quickly moved to Arianna's side. Seeing the deep cuts in her hands, he quickly took her knife from her belt. She did nothing to stop him; she just sat hunched forward, fingers curled but her hands remaining out of a fist, teeth clenched and eyes shut tightly in a grimace of pain. The blonde Arabian did what he had seen her do; he cut a long strip of cloth from the hem of his shirt. Only this one he cut into two strips; he proceeded to wrap the girl's hands, each cloth going over the wound several times before he tied them off.

As he did this, Heero moved next to Duo and put two fingers to Trowa's neck. "He's still with us. We have to get him out of here. He won't last long without medical attention."

Quatre carefully helped Arianna to her feet. "Thank you," she said weakly.

"I'm just returning the favor," he replied gently.

"Where do we go from here?" asked Duo, worry furrowing his brow.

"I know where we can go." Arianna carefully picked up her coat with just her fingers, then walked over to the fallen pilot and carefully placed it over him. "Someone will have to carry him. As long as he stays alive, we'll be fine. If he dies, we'll have to drop him and run. I'll take you to my home. It'll be a few hours before the toxin settles in and I loose consciousness."

"Toxin?" asked Wufei, genuinely surprised. "You mean these crystals are poisonous?"

She nodded. "That's why they hurt so much." She took a few steps towards the west. "I live this way."

The cloak was wrapped around Trowa and Heero carefully slung his unconscious friend over his shoulders and began to carry him.

"I'll take him next," offered Wufei.

They followed Arianna west, knowing that the life of their friend was in her hands.

The sun was setting in front of them, making it hard to see objects in the distance. Heero had let Wufei take Trowa about halfway though the trip; the 03 pilot still hadn't woken up, his bandage was blood-soaked, he still took deep breaths from clenched teeth, and he still sweat from fever.

"Are we there yet?" asked Duo; sounding a lot like a little kid whom was bored in a car trip. It had an opposite effect on his friends that what one would expect. Duo's whining was a welcome distraction from the fading heat of the desert and fatigue.

"Almost. It's not far now. Just a little further…" Arianna was doing poorly herself; her bandages had become blood-soaked as well, she had become prone to stumbling, perspiration from her rising temperature collected on her forehead, and her breathing had become deep. Quatre stayed at her side, keeping her from falling to the sand when she stumbled.

Wufei had been carrying Trowa for nearly and hour and a half, and he was tired. He still pushed on however, only stopping when his left knee weakened. He stumbled forward a step, then landed hard on his knees. He kept a tight hold on his friend throughout the fall to prevent himself from dropping him.

"Uh!…"

Heero and Duo were at his side in an instant and Quatre took Arianna's arm, bringing her to a stop.

"You alright Wufei? Do you want one of us to take him now?" asked Duo as he kneeled down next to his friend on one knee in the sand. He was concerned that his friend was exhausted and yet was still carrying his wounded friend.

Wufei forced himself to his feet. "I'm fine. If it won't be long until we get there, I can still carry him."

"There it is!"

Arianna's shout startled them all. They all looked to the west to see a long stretch of black wall with buildings behind it. They could see two towers with spotlights that continually moved back and forth behind the wall. It was barely visible with the light of the setting sun behind it, but still there.

For the first time since they had known her, Arianna smiled and laughed. She pointed to the structures. "We're almost there! I don't have much time left, so we'll have to hurry!" She began to run towards her home, her strides short and awkward. Quatre ran to keep pace with her. Heero and Duo each put an arm around Wufei, sharing his load and helping him run.

It took them only a few minutes to reach the wall. The spotlights focused on them, making them stand out in the darkening world. They could see two men in each tower; one controlling the spotlight and the other holding a gun trained on them. The wall went over their heads and then some, nearly ten feet of concrete in each wall section. Behind the wall they could see the tops of the buildings, nothing more.

Arianna took a running step ahead of them and began to wave her right arm above her head. "It's me; Arianna!" she called up to the towers.

One of the men reached down and pressed something, and a large section of wall in front of them began to lower into the ground. Once it had completely lowered, they walked inside; Wufei still supported by Heero and Duo.

The four conscious boys were amazed at what was behind the walls. Multitudes of dark-colored buildings, many of them no larger than two stories, were completely surrounded by the black wall.

Quatre looked around, his eyes wide with amazement and surprise. "This is where you live? This isn't a home; this is a military base!"

"Of course," said Arianna, a small smile appearing on her face as a dozen people came rushing out of a building with a stretcher. "We're the Forgotten."

The stretcher bearers were the first to arrive, a male with short dark hair and a female with wavy brown hair past her shoulders, who carefully removed Trowa from Wufei's shoulders and put him on the stretcher. As they did, a loud voice came from the direction the stretcher-bearers did. The voice was definitely female, with a Hispanic accent.

"ARIANNA!"

The girl in question visibly cringed.

"Who is that?" asked Quatre.

"Maria," she said before turning around to face the voice.

Maria was a tall woman with long black wavy hair and a large bust. However, she looked strong enough to deal with any man that came along and decided to try to take advantage of her. She was wearing blue jeans with a dark gray tank top and combat-style boots as she ran up to them. She stopped in front of Arianna and promptly captured the girl in a hug. Arianna weakly attempted to struggle and fend off the smothering kisses to her forehead and cheeks.

"Maria… I'm fine…"

The smothering stopped and Maria held the girl out at arm's length. "You scared me half to death, young lady! Don't you ever run off like that again!"

Arianna's head fell and her eyelids drooped. "I'm sorry Maria…"

One of the woman's eyebrows lowered. "Arianna?"

"Your new patient… has Tiberium poisoning… I pulled out the shard…" She weakly lifted her hands so the woman could see them.

Maria gasped. The flesh surrounding the wounds had turned a shade of green, meaning the poisoning was already into its later stage.

Arianna suddenly collapsed, her knees buckling underneath her. Maria quickly moved to catch her, sweeping the girl up into her arms. The four boys quickly jogged to the woman, who ignored them and quickly turned to follow the stretcher-bearers with the wounded young man.

It was that split second her black hair was left trailing behind that Heero, Duo, Quatre, and Wufei saw the small, green crystals growing on her temples.

Their eyes all widened and the glanced at each other. What the heck was going on? First entire cities are being destroyed, citizens being killed, then there's the green crystals and the things living in it, an army with half human, half machine infantry, and now there's people with crystal's growing on their faces? The four boys ran to follow the woman, questions running through their minds at an incredible speed.

The infirmary looked similar to all the other buildings with its dark outward appearance. But the inside was lighter; the walls were light gray with heavy steel doors in all the doorways. There were lots of rooms with two beds in each, only allowing two patients in each room. Trowa and Arianna were both put into the same room, plus six other people that had collected: the four other pilots, Maria, and the female stretcher-bearer. Maria was re-bandaging Trowa's leg and the other female, who Maria called Katherine, bandaged Arianna's hands. The four boys stood back by the door and waited anxiously to hear the diagnosis. When they were finished, both of the patients were resting comfortably. Maria turned to face the four boys, who were watching her very carefully with anxious eyes.

She sighed. "Arianna will most likely make it, since the toxins didn't have long to collect before their source was moved."

"And Trowa?" asked Wufei, urging her to continue.

"I honestly don't know," she sighed, shaking her head and exposing the crystals growing on her face. "He might make it and he might not. We won't know until he wakes up or he dies."

Duo raised his hand like he was in school. "Excuse me, but could you tell us what exactly is going on? Like when did these green crystals show up and why are entire cities being destroyed?"

Maria looked at him, confused. "Don't you know about the Tiberium War?"

All four shook their heads. "The last war we heard of was the Marimaya War," said Heero.

"I read about that in the history books," spoke Katherine, who was leaning against the wall near Trowa's bed. "That was in After Colony 200, I think."

"Actually," corrected Quatre. "It was After Colony 197, about New Year's Day."

Katherine raised one eyebrow slightly. "You boys must've paid really good attention in history class if you remembered that much."

"What history class?" asked Duo with a snort. "We fought in that war."

The two women's faces changed to disbelief. "That's not possible; you have to be lying," the younger one accused.

"He's not," countered Heero. "All five of us fought in that war. I was there when Dekim Barton was killed."

Maria looked confused. The four boys looked completely serious, even though what they were saying was impossible. "You boys couldn't have been in that war. It ended over 1,800 years ago."

The pilots could have sworn their jaws would have hit the floor. There was a long moment where no one said a word.

Duo was the first to recover. "You're joking, right? Because this is so NOT funny."

Maria shook her head. "Sorry. We're not entirely sure what year it is exactly, but it's close to After Colony 2030."

Quatre took a shaky step backwards. "I think I need to sit down…" He promptly sat on the ground, his legs crossed and his elbows resting on his knees, rubbing his temples with his index and middle fingers.

Duo began to pace across the room, his hair trailing behind him like a tail each time he turned. He started rubbing his own temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Okay. I'm confused. How did we go from living in A.C. 197 to A.C. 2030? What happened to us between then and now?"

Maria walked over to him and as he passed, she took hold of his shoulders, making him stop and look up at her. "First of all, stop pacing. You're making me nervous. Second of all, I can tell you what's been going on recently and where these green crystals came from."

"We're listening," agreed Heero as took the back of Duo's shirt and pulled him back towards the rest of the pilots.

Author's note: I'm evil. I know. Next one coming sometime.


	3. Visions

Disclaimer: I only own Arianna and Maria. Katherine belongs to Yasha.

Author's note: Moving on.

The four conscious Gundam Pilots had positioned themselves around the room. Quatre stood against the wall, near Arianna's bed. Duo leaned against the wall next to the door. Wufei stood with Heero between Quatre and the door. Katherine leaned against the end of Trowa's bed, arms folded, while Maria stood beside her, leaning against the wall across the room from Heero.

Maria folded her arms loosely over her chest. "So; what do you boys want to know first?"

"The beginning." Heero folded his arms. "How did this all start?"

She nodded once. "A meteor landed near the Tiber River, leaving a deposit of Tiberium crystals in the ground. More meteors showed up, each leaving a small deposit. I'm not entirely sure on how they work exactly, but they spread by either basic self-replication or by mutating trees or other plant life they overtake and make them release spores. They spread quickly. Now they're moving into the ocean, and make travel nearly impossible. It's like a virus, I guess; it's spreading rapidly and mutates everything in its path. What it can't mutate; it destroys."

There was a moment of silence as the four young men absorbed what they were told. Heero and Wufei's eyes had narrowed. A bitter frown had settled on Duo's face, his blue eyes dark. The expression on Quatre's face was of slight shock; the story had surprised him, and yet there was a slight tug in his mind, telling him that there was more to it…

"The war!"

Everyone conscious suddenly looked at him.

"What about the war? How did it start?"

Maria shook her head, again exposing the disturbingly pretty pale green crystals growing at her temples. "I'm not sure on that. But I do know that once the Tiberium was discovered poisonous, NOD showed up. They use Tiberium and make weapons out of them. It's rumored that they experiment on people with it, but no one here is entirely sure. GDI tried to put a stop to them, but it ended up NOD was bigger than first thought."

"GDI?" asked Wufei, wanting clarification on the unfamiliar term.

"Global Defense Initiative," answered Katherine. "According to the history books, it used to be called the 'Preventers'. But with the population growth and increase in members, they changed their name to sound more formal."

Maria nodded once. "GDI and NOD have been at war for a long time now. But it seems NOD is getting more aggressive; they've been attacking GDI-friendly cities without warning and with few- if any- survivors. That's how we got Arianna." Her dark eyes moved from the four boys to the unconscious girl on the bed, her eyes looking distant and sad. "The poor dear was out wandering all by herself; she was the only one to escape the city before NOD destroyed it and killed everyone. I was nineteen back then; I was out with several others investigating the explosions coming from the city when I found her hiding behind large rocks on a cliff top overlooking the city. The poor girl was only six years old, alone, cold and terrified; I couldn't just leave her there. So I took her back with me and raised her as my own."

Quatre's head was bowed slightly, seemingly in thought; his eyes were distant and vaguely frightened. A frown had etched itself onto his face. Sounds distantly familiar echoed around his head.

Duo noticed and his brow furrowed. "Quatre? Hey; you okay?"

The blonde seemed to snap out of it and looked up at his braided friend, the distant look gone but the fear still lingering. "Hm? Oh; I-I'm fine."

The American was clearly unconvinced, but didn't press the matter any further.

"What about the colonies? How have they been affected by the war?" asked Wufei.

"Once everyone knew Tiberium crystals were poisonous, most of the people on Earth escaped onto the colonies, which are now over-populated," explained Maria. "Those that were either too stubborn to leave or couldn't afford to move stayed on Earth. According to the history books; and if you boys are really from AC 197, then there were only five colonies in your time. We're not exactly sure how many there are today, but our guesses would be close to twenty. At about AC 500, more colonies were started, but very few were actually finished. Once the rush for the colonies started, the rest were finished and quickly filled. As far as I know, they're still making more colonies. But they won't allow any form of Tiberium onto any of them. It's the reason no one in the Forgotten can go."

"But why?" demanded the Chinese pilot, feeling his temper flare at the unjust treatment. "Why are your people being forced to stay while others are allowed to escape?"

The woman just shook her head sadly.

"Because," answered Katherine, unfolding her arms. "We're no longer considered 'people'. We're not humans." She pointed to the three green crystals that ran above her jawbone on the right side of her face. The crystals on her left side were a mirror image. "We're mutants. Because of these Tiberium crystals, they won't even let us in the airports." She folded her arms again.

"What about you guys?" asked Duo. "Are you all mutants? Is this the only Forgotten base on the planet?"

"No," replied Maria, shaking her head again. "To both. We've got quite a few humans like Arianna that escaped from cities and needed a safe place to stay. Most rarely ever leave the base. From what I've heard, there's at least ten Forgotten bases in what's left of the continental United States. Our leader is Tratos. I haven't seen him yet, but he's been doing a good job so far." She paused to yawn and stretch her arms above her head. "So, any other questions?" she asked once her arms dropped back to her sides.

"What about us? What will we do now?"

Those two questions in Quatre's soft voice made Maria's heart melt. She could imagine how frightening of a situation they were in; they were lost in a world that was no longer theirs. Everything and everyone they knew has changed to something completely alien to them. Her facial expression softened and she offered him a small, comforting smile. "I don't know," she said gently. "But all five of you are welcome to call this base your new home. And speaking of which, we should probably find a place for you all to sleep for tonight; it's getting pretty late."

"We'd like to sleep here." Judging by Heero's tone, it wasn't a request.

They could have sworn Maria's left eyebrow twitched. Her words were of disbelief. "Excuse me!"

"We want to sleep here. All of us." The other three nodded in agreement.

"Do you have _any _idea what kind of danger you're putting yourselves in by sleeping in this room! Don't you realize that if either of these two dies; they'll kill everyone _in_ this room! The walls and doors _are_ made out foot-thick steel for a _reason_!"

Their expressions never changed.

"If they want to take the risk, let them take the risk," argued Katherine mildly, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, we have to hook them up to the alarm system anyway."

Maria gave the teenage girl a "I thought you were on my side" look, then rolled her eyes and ran a hand though her hair in frustration. She then sighed in defeat and looked at Heero. "Fine. Against my better judgment, I'm letting you all sleep in here. But if that alarm goes off-" she pointed at them, then at the door. "-you leave the room as fast as you can and stay out of the way. Understand?"

All four boys just nodded.

"Good." She turned to Katherine. "Go get them blankets and pillows. They look like they took a long walk across the desert; I imagine they're exhausted."

The girl nodded, then walked out of the room. She returned some minutes later with five sets of blankets and pillows.

"Five?"

"I'm staying here too. I can keep a closer eye on both of them."

Maria opened her mouth to protest, but gave up before she started.

Deep into the night, everyone had fallen asleep. Katherine had positioned herself between the two beds. The four boys had scattered themselves around the room; Quatre and Duo on the other sides of the door, while Heero and Wufei were near the beds. It hadn't taken them long to fall asleep; the trek in the desert had worn them out and they were grateful for the rest. One, however, discovered that sleep would not be without consequence. Quatre's head tossed back and forth, his eyes tightly shut and his expression a grimace. His hands were in tight fists as they clutched the blanket and a slight moan escaped him every few seconds.

It was the girl whose clothes Quatre had taken. She was standing in the middle of the road Quatre had found her, her fists tightly clenched, her entire body tense. Her family was dead; she was the only one to escape when her father and brother pushed her out just before the house collapsed. Now her five best friends had been killed right in front of her, but she just kept on running. But what did it was the sight before her: her boyfriend's house was on fire and crumbling. She knew he was dead; she could see the top of his head, bloodied and burning. Tears poured from her eyes in twin rivers as she stared defiantly at the NOD soldier in front of her.

It was strange. Quatre was there, seeing and hearing everything, yet it was like he had no physical body. He could feel the heat of the flames surrounding him at all sides, he could feel the strong wind that fanned the flames and helped them consume. He could hear the crackling of the fires and the screams of the dying. And yet no one seemed to notice him.

The girl suddenly shook her head, sending clear droplets flying. She then looked at the soldier in front of her, hate, rage, grief, and defiance all reflecting in her eyes and the two streams continued to pour. She then opened her mouth and started to scream.

'YOU WANT TO KILL ME TOO! DO IT! GO AHEAD AND SHOOT ME! I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU! I'LL NEVER HELP YOU! YOU HEAR ME! NEVER! I KNOW YOU WANT TO, SO KILL ME ALREADY!'

'Don't!' Quatre cried, but no words came from him. She was giving up; she had nothing to live for anymore, and she didn't want to live anymore. She was screaming at him to kill her; she wanted to die, just so her pain would stop.

Quatre knew how she felt. After all, it was her pain he was feeling.

Her screaming rant ended and she just glared at the NOD soldier before her, who hadn't moved at all. His gun was still trained on her and even though Quatre couldn't see their face, he was pretty sure they were glaring back at the girl. It reminded him of an old Western standoff; only one had a gun and the other was screaming for the other to kill her. It wouldn't have surprised him one bit if a tumbleweed rolled right between them.

The soldier then opened fire, a short burst of loud noise overcoming the sounds of the dying city. There was four disturbing sounds as the girl was suddenly almost thrown backwards, her feet actually leaving the ground for a moment before she landed heavily on her back. Already her shirt- the shirt Quatre was wearing- was being stained from the red that flowed from the four holes in her chest.

Quatre gasped sharply as he felt it. His entire chest felt like it was on fire, while the pain was most intense at four different places. He looked down to see he now had a physical form; he was back in his body, still wearing the bloody clothes he had found. Only now, he noticed in open-mouthed shock, that new blood- _his_ blood- was pouring over the stains from four newly formed bullet holes in his chest.

'Quatre…'

He didn't know where the voice was coming from, or why it sounded so familiar, but he couldn't focus on it. All he could do was stare at the wounds in his chest that were causing him so much pain.

'Quatre!…'

"Hey Quatre, wake up!"

His eyes suddenly snapped wide open and he sat up, breathing heavily. There was still a slight throb of pain in the four places of his chest. He quickly reached up and felt his shirt, which, much to his relief, was dry.

"Hey; you all right?"

He looked to his left to see Duo crouched next to him, looking worried. It took him a moment to find his voice. "I-I'm fine. Just a nightmare. Did I wake you up?"

The American nodded. "You too, huh? Thought I was having a nightmare, but you woke me up just in time." He grinned slightly. "I owe ya one."

The grin eased Quatre's nerves a little and he looked around the room. It was dark except for light coming though a small widow. He could see the other five forms, but didn't take the time to try to sort out the details. "Did I wake anyone else?"

Duo shook his head. "Nope. At least not that I know of. Try to get some more sleep, okay? We're gonna have a _long _day ahead of us."

"I guess you're right. Goodnight, Duo."

Duo patted his friends shoulder. "'Night Quatre." As he got up, he stumbled a little bit, nearly falling into Quatre but catching himself just in time, the denim of his jeans brushing against the Arabian's shoulder.

Quatre gasped, but no sound escaped him. Duo was completely unaware of what was happening to his friend as he settled back down on his pillow.

It was happening again. A torrent of pain slammed into him like a wall the second the denim touched him. There was immense grief, as before, only now laden with terror. And plenty of it. There was also the strong urge to scream, and, if he hadn't quickly and quietly clamped a hand over his mouth, he would have.

A few moments passed before the onslaught of emotions subsided and his entire body began to tremble. A tear pushed it's way out and traced a trail down his cheek. He removed his hand from over his mouth and put both of his hands on his arms, holding them closer to his body as he leaned forward slightly, staring down at the blanket over his lower body. It almost looked like he was trying to calm his shaking arms.

The dream; it had seemed so real. It _was_ real; he actually _felt_ everything: the vibrations from the explosions, the heat of the flames- and even though you're not supposed to feel pain in REM sleep- he felt the bullets impale themselves in his chest. He honestly _felt_ like he was shot four times. He didn't know what was happening to him or why. He all of a sudden knew how that girl had died and had felt how she had felt just before her demise…

'_God; please, just end it all now…_'

… she had a loving family; both parents and an older brother; who did everything they could just so they'd all survive…

'_I don't care what happens to my body; just stop this…_'

… she had a boyfriend she loved dearly and who thought the world of her; who told her she was beautiful and, even though she didn't always show it, oh how those words made her almost cry…

'… _this pain…_'

… all this, and yet…

'…_please… just let me die…_'

… she wasn't afraid of death.

Quatre laid back down, staring up at the ceiling until slowly falling asleep and slipping into a dreamless slumber.

The next morning, Quatre was the first to waken. His eyes slowly opened and he gradually sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His mind was still fuzzy and his back, unaccustomed to sleeping on a hard floor, was sore.

"So; finally awake, are we?"

He blinked in vague surprise as he looked at the source of the voice. Katherine stood at Trowa's bedside, looking down at him with a faintly amused smile. He hastily ran a hand though his hair in an attempt to straighten it before slowly getting to his feet. Being sure to avoid stepping on any of his still-sleeping friends, he made his way to the girl and looked down at his wounded friend.

Trowa was laying on his stomach to prevent unnecessary pressure on his bandaged leg. His eyes were still closed and his arms were at his side. He was hooked up to several wires; one on both sides of his forehead, while the others snaked out from under his shirt- which Quatre assumed were to monitor his heartbeat- and they all lead to a gray box attached to the wall. The box had two screens, both with a jumping green line running across it horizontally. One of them was the heartbeat; he could only guess what the other was. Looking back down to his friend, the platinum blonde Arabian gently put a hand on Trowa's forehead. "He's still got a fever."

"A little," confirmed Katherine. She was changing the bandages on his wounded leg. "It's gone down a bit since last night. He's showed a little improvement, but I'm not sure if it's enough." She gently tied off the new bandage and collected the old ones. "You all would have been dead if Arianna wasn't there."

Quatre looked up at her with a start. "I almost forgot about her!" He was sure to keep his voice down, minding those still sleeping. "How is she?" He turned around and stepped over to the other bed. She was laying on her back with a blanket up to her waist. She too was hooked up to a metal box, similar to the way Trowa was. She also appeared to be sleeping, and the bandages on her hands seemed to be changed recently.

"She's still got a little bit of a fever, but she's improved a lot. She should wake up sometime today, if all goes well. But…"

Quatre looked at her from over his left shoulder, the worry in his eyes pleading for her to continue.

He could tell she really didn't want to say. Her eyes fell to the floor as she ran a hand through her hair and she let out a heavy sigh, then walked over beside the young man and took hold of Arianna's left hand. She unwrapped the bandage before holding up the limp limb for Quatre to see.

His eyes softened sadly as he saw the pale green crystals beginning to emerge out of the back of her hand. "She…"

"Mutated. Yes." Katherine began to rewrap the hand as she spoke softly. "It's the lesser of two evils, I guess you could say. It's either mutate and be unable to ever leave the planet or die and move on to kill other people."

"I… I still don't understand. Arianna told us in the desert that if Trowa died, he would kill us. How can someone die and still kill people?"

Katherine looked up at him, the crystals on her face glittering. Her brown eyes were seemingly cold and indifferent, yet deep in them Quatre could see a hint of regret. "Just pray you don't ever have to see it up close, because it will be the last thing you'll ever see."

She then walked past him towards the door. "I'll be back with Maria." She then shut the door behind herself, leaving him alone in a room of sleeping people.

Quatre looked back down at the unconscious girl in front of him, his eyes sad and sympathetic. She had paid a price for what she had done for him, and he wasn't sure if he could repay her. Money was obviously out of the question; even if he did somehow manage to get his family's wealth back under his name, what use would the Forgotten have for it? Besides, what she had saved couldn't be bought.

He gently took her left hand in both of his, giving it a gentle squeeze in a hope it would give her some amount of comfort. He could feel the abnormal hard bumps under the bandages. She would be trapped on this apocalyptic Earth for the rest of her life thanks to those crystals.

He was surprised when he felt the hand he was holding give him a gentle squeeze in return. It was weak and obviously forced, but he still felt it. He smiled when he saw the girl's eyelids slowly flutter open, gradually focusing onto the ceiling.

"How are you feeling?"

It took her groggy and hazy mind a few moments to identify where the voice came from. She slowly looked to her left to see Quatre standing beside her bed, giving her a gentle smile. Both of her palms throbbed, while the back of her hands seemed to ache. Oddly enough, so did both of her cheeks, right under her eyes. Her voice was hoarse and her mouth was dry. The light from the window seemed glaringly bright. She forced the words from her throat, which made it hurt.

"Q-Quatre?"

"It's me," he affirmed with a bigger smile.

"Ugh… I feel like I got run over by a NOD Buggy… Where's all your friends?"

He stepped back with his right foot slightly and turned halfway to look at the unconscious young man on the other bed. "Trowa's across the room, and everyone else is still sleeping on the floor." He nodded downwards at the sleeping bodies. "Katherine said she'd be back with Maria."

Arianna suddenly groaned and covered her face with her bandaged right hand.

"What?" asked Quatre, slightly alarmed.

"_Now_ I'm going to have to put up with Maria's smothering… Great…"

He smiled again and patted her hand. "You should be thankful you have her. I never knew my mother, and my father was always so busy… I don't think many of my friends ever had a smothering mother-figure in their lives either."

"You're probably right." She lowered her hand onto her waist. Her amber eyes looked up at him, a sparkle of amusement in their depths. "But I'm sure Maria would gladly smother all five of you too if you just asked."

The door to the room suddenly opened and the two women walked in, Maria now wearing dark pants that seemed a size too big and were slightly tattered at the bottoms of the legs. A dirty white tank top and the combat boots from the day before finished her attire.

"They're here," he told Arianna as he released her hand. He stepped back as the older woman made her way to the bedside and smiled brightly.

"How do you feel Arianna?"

"Like I got run over. Can these wires come off now?"

"Alright; alright. Just hold your horses." She pressed a few buttons on the gray box on the wall and the screens turned off. She then removed the wires from Arianna's forehead, then lifted her shirt to reach the wires underneath. It was this time Quatre turned towards Trowa's bed, partly of embarrassment and partly of concern for his friend.

"You're blushing, Quatre."

He quickly looked to his left to see Duo laying on his back with his arms folded behind his head, a large sleepy smile, and his blue eyes- although only half open- sparkled with amusement.

Quatre brought both hands to his face, which was slightly warm. "N-no I'm not!"

A snort of laughter came from Katherine on his right.

Duo's sleepy smile upgraded to a sleepy grin. "Riiiiiiiiight…" Unfolding his arms, the American hauled himself up into a sitting position and rubbed at his eyes. Yawning, he then stretched his arms above his head. His back popped several times before he lowered his arms. "What time is it?" he asked as he scratched an itch on his left shoulder.

"About ten-thirty," replied Maria as she inspected the cuts on Arianna's hands. "You boys have been sleeping for a while."

"And what's our agenda for the day?" he asked as he got up to his feet.

"We'll have to wait for the other two to wake up," Arianna replied, nodding towards the still sleeping Heero and Wufei. "Before we go get breakfast." She was now sitting up on the bed, feet not quite touching the floor. "I know they need as much rest as they can get, considering they carried Trowa here."

Duo carefully avoided stepping on Heero and stood next to Quatre and looked at the still-pale uni-banged pilot. His voice suddenly became much less cheerful and his eyes became worried. "How is he?"

"Hard to say," came Katherine's voice from Quatre's right as she wrote down some notes on a clipboard. "We still can't tell if he's going to live or not. He lost a lot of blood out there, and the toxins had a while to settle in. It's up to him whether he dies or not."

Duo was silent for several seconds, looking down at his injured friend contemplatively and gnawing on his bottom lip. He then looked at Quatre, his eyes looking like those of an innocent child. "Quatre?"

Quatre saw the look in Duo's eyes as he looked at him. Immediately Quatre knew he was going to ask him if he thought Trowa would live. But how could he answer? Yes; he was _hoping_ Trowa would come out of the whole ordeal alive, but they were so unsure at the moment; and they had been though so much in the past 24 hours he didn't know what to think. "Yes Duo?"

The braided American slowly raised a finger and pointed at him. "You're still blushing."

"Duo!"

The food wasn't that great. It reminded them of thick, slimy oatmeal, only with less flavor. But the four boys hadn't eaten anything for the last 1,800 or so years, and they really didn't care _what_ it tasted like, as long as it was _food_. And they ate a _lot_ of it.

They chose to eat an early lunch instead of a late breakfast, giving them the rest of the day to explore the base, now that it seemed it would be their new home. Arianna gave them a tour of nearly everything inside the walls, excluding the Armory and the two towers guarding the entrance. They had run out of time when dinnertime came, and the boys were so worn out from the tour they went to bed right after the meal. They found it odd they became tired so easily- especially considering the time they had spent sleeping recently- after just a tour of the base. Nevertheless, they wasted no time falling back asleep, still refusing to sleep anywhere else other than Trowa's room. Arianna, however, was glad to go back to her own bed, and said she would return in the morning.

Quatre soon regretted being eager to fall asleep. Once again, he was back in the burning city; not physically there, but seeing, hearing, and feeling everything. This time, he was in a slightly different part of the city, where he saw the girl Duo had taken his clothes from, tears pouring from her eyes as she ran. It was her pain he was feeling. She ran because her fiancé, who she had left half-buried in ruins and bleeding, had told her to. Her red wavy hair flew behind her as she ran as fast as she could, sobs breaking from her every few steps.

A shout from Quatre's right caught her attention and she turned to look. Quatre's vision turned as well to see the girl from his last dream; the one he had gotten his clothes from; standing a little ways down the street. The girl running shouted back and started running towards her friend down the road, but stopped herself short and gasped in fear as a NOD soldier suddenly appeared between them. She quickly turned to run back and find a way around him, or at least draw the soldier away from her friend. However, before she could even fully turn around, her green eyes widened even more.

Another NOD soldier stood to her other side, his gun trained on her.

She felt a scream well up in her throat…

But it never got any further.

Quatre cried out in despair, yet no one seemed to notice him. The young woman still fell limply onto her back, a perfectly round hole formed in the middle of her forehead. Quatre heard the almost inhuman scream coming from his right, but he paid it no notice. Already if felt as though something was drilling though his head, and something red and warm was running into his eyes, making it impossible for him to see. He could still hear the screaming, only now it became accented with his name…

"Quatre!"

His aquamarine eyes suddenly opened, terror and hurt in their depths. Dark, onyx eyes looked down at him from above, the voice of their owner hushed but worried.

"Are you all right?"

Quatre forced himself to slowly sit up, trying to calm his breathing. His forehead ached and felt wet. He quickly put a hand to his head to feel it was indeed wet, but with tiny beads of sweat, and was otherwise untouched.

No hole.

He heaved a shaky sigh of relief and felt his arms begin to tremble.

"Quatre?"

He then looked up at the Chinese youth, who had both hands on his shoulders, concern written all over his face. He was hard to see, considering the darkness of the room.

"I-I'm okay; just a nightmare…" He put a shaky right hand on his friend's shoulder in an attempt to reassure him, and his hand came in contact with his shirt.

He suddenly lowered his head again, looking down at the blanket as he clenched his jaw shut. It was happening again. There was still a bit of emotional pain and a lot of fear, but was far overshadowed by the physical pain. His right thigh and left shoulder throbbed. His grip on Wufei's shoulder tightened.

Wufei's hand suddenly came off of his right shoulder, lifting his head to make him look up at him. He could tell Wufei was really worried about him, judging from what he could see of his expression and his tone of voice. "Are you sure that's all it is?"

Quatre could feel the hotness behind his eyes, but forcefully held it back. He wanted so much to tell him everything; the dreams, the flashes of pain and emotion, how he all of a sudden _knew_ who these girls were and what they were like… But he didn't want to worry them; they had been sleeping for 1,800 years, Trowa was hovering between life and death; they had _more_ than enough to worry about besides him and his problems.

He swallowed hard to clear his throat, then nodded slightly.

Wufei released his friend. "We've all been having nightmares," he said softly as he lifted Quatre's hand from his shoulder. "It's just so overwhelming; knowing how much time has passed and yet having no knowledge of it. We don't know this world anymore." He released the hand, which fell onto Quatre's lap. He turned back towards his bed.

"Wufei, I-"

The black-haired young man turned back to his friend, obviously tired, but patient.

The blonde seemed to hesitate. "… Thank you."

A nod was his response. "I know you would've done the same for me."

As he heard his friend settle back down into sleep, Quatre stayed sitting up, his eyes wandering around the room yet seeing nothing in particular. The dream, once again, had been real; the blood had stung his eyes, but seemed trivial compared to the fact there was a bullet hole in his forehead.

His head rang as the voices suddenly came.

'Go… get out of here…' 

'_No! I won't leave you behind!…'_

'_Don't worry about me…'_

'_I can't…'_

'… _You gotta live…' _

'_Please… don't make me go!…'_

'… _I love you…' _

'… _I love you too… No! Please! DON'T LEAVE ME!…'_

Quatre held his head in his hands, the final desperate cry ringing in his mind before fading away. After a few moments, he let his hands drop to rest on the floor.

He really didn't want to go back to sleep. As much as he knew he needed it, he was afraid of what would happen; what he would dream next. Of course, he reasoned as he slowly settled himself back into his "bed", maybe he would be lucky like the night before and have no dreams.

He wasn't lucky.

The girl appeared to be fifteen. She had blonde hair that hung straight to her jawbone. She was wearing a white tank top and baggy blue jeans- what Wufei was wearing now. She was running scared; tears obstructed her vision, and as far as she knew, the NOD soldier was still chasing her.

Quatre's heart became heavy. He already knew how the scenario would end; he knew, since Wufei had her clothes, that she would end up with one or more bullet holes and lay bleeding to death- if not already dead. He dearly wished he wouldn't have to watch, but he somehow managed to see the entire thing before being awoken.

A shot rang out and she suddenly fell. At the same time, Quatre felt an incredibly sharp bite in his left leg. He cried out as he felt something warm run down his leg. He didn't need to look to know what it was. The girl fell on her left side as that leg gave out, rolling onto her back. She tried to crawl backwards as the armored figure slowly advanced towards her, weapon leveled. Her heart was pounding in her throat, as was Quatre's in his. She managed to back away a few feet before another shot rang out. Her left arm buckled underneath her as she cried out, quickly reaching over to grab her shoulder in pain. Simultaneously, Quatre felt the stabbing pain in his left shoulder, followed by the rush of warm liquid over his arm. However, he could do nothing but cringe after his cry of pain, watching the girl roll on the ground as she clenched her teeth shut to keep from screaming.

The NOD soldier stopped a few steps away from her and watched. Quatre, now in great pain, couldn't believe what he was seeing. If the girl tried to escape, the soldier would shoot her again.

'Please!' he cried, despite the fact that he knew it would be futile. 'Just let her go!'

The soldier gave no movement to signal he had heard the teen; he just stood there, watching the girl as she tried her hardest not to scream. She squirmed and writhed as she clutched her shoulder, reminding him too much of Trowa when they had met up in the desert.

After a while- Quatre couldn't keep track of the time- the NOD soldier finally moved; walking to the girl's side and lowering his gun. A single shot rang out and with a spasmodic jerk, the girl fell still.

Immediately the pain came to his head, spreading like wildfire through the rest of his skull. The warm liquid flowed down the side of his face and onto his shoulder.

He suddenly woke up; his eyes opening wide and his mouth open from the gasp that he had cut short. His mind, still half-asleep, vaguely registered the sunlight pouring in though the small window. It took him several moments to bring his breathing back to a normal pace and slowly sit up.

None of the other pilots had been disturbed, unlike the previous nights. Duo had curled up under his blanket with his back to his blonde friend. The infamous braid was tucked under his right arm, and, Quatre imagined, being held like a teddy bear. The American was slowly recovering his enthusiasm and seemingly ever-present joy, and was quick to smile when his friends needed it. The day before he had mentioned to Maria after dinner how he wouldn't mind having a smothering mother figure like Arianna had. He was very much surprised when he was suddenly captured in a massive hug, the woman telling him that there would always be room in her heart for one more; even though they may be reluctant to accept her affection and care. Quatre had watched the entire thing, and had, oddly enough, felt some of the comfort and love that had spread though his braided friend as he returned the hug.

Wufei lay on his back, his head tilted slightly to his right. He seemed to be taking things well, despite their current situation-

The door suddenly opened, making him jump slightly as he turned to see who had entered. Amber colored eyes looked down at him and their owner smiled. "Morning," Arianna greeted quietly, slipping in and leaving the door open just a crack. Standing up, he smoothed down his hair in an attempt to look a little more presentable. He then looked up at her and froze, his eyes widening a fraction.

There, sparkling in the small amount of sunlight, were three small green crystals growing under both of her eyes.

Her smile faded and she put both hands to her face, touching the Tiberium as her eyes lowered to the floor. "They're growing here too," she said quietly.

"The lesser of two evils," the Arabian echoed sadly, remembering what Katherine had said the day before.

"I guess you could say that." The hands fell from her face and she looked back up at him. "So, how are you? You look a little pale."

He hesitated before rubbing his eyes in an attempt to hide the fear that appeared with the memory of his "dreams". "Just a nightmare. Wufei says everyone else is getting them too."

"Can't blame you," she replied with a half of a shrug. "Going from 197 to about 2030 would give me nightmares too. And with a severely wounded friend too- which is why I'm here." She walked quietly past Quatre, finding her way around the three bodies on the floor.

Quatre followed, standing beside her at Trowa's bedside. The gray box on the wall still had both jumping green lines. Trowa himself was still pale, but his fever had gone down slightly. However, Arianna gave no clue that he was getting better. She began to gently feel his bandaged leg; Quatre could only guess why. Moments of silence passed- oppressive moments that seemed to last forever- before her voice came, quiet and sad.

"They found a guy last night, after you and your friends went to bed. Looked like he had a bad run-in with a Fiend. Lost a lot of blood before Maria and the others found him. Had at least three shards in him. They don't expect him to last long."

"Is there any way to tell who he is?" he asked, for lack of anything else to ask.

She shook her head slightly. "No id on him. Then again, not many still on earth do. We assume he's a civilian, since he didn't have any armor on when we found him."

The oppressive silence settled in again, and the only thing Quatre could do was watch as she continued to carefully feel around the wounded area, her brow furrowed slightly and her mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Why… are you doing that?"

The question averted her attention slightly, as she glanced at him momentarily as she paused in her work. "Hmmm?"

"Feeling his leg. Why?"

She continued her work as she answered him. "I'm feeling for crystal growth. If he mutates, he'll most likely survive. But… I'm not feeling any." She let her hands fall to her sides as she finished her work. "It's not looking good. If he does survive, it'll be close."

The Gundam Pilot gently put a hand on the unconscious young man's forehead, his eyes tinged with guilt. "It's all my fault. If I had only gone with them instead of Duo, I could have taken Trowa's place…"

Heero Yuy, having been awake long enough to hear it all, slowly got to his feet. The blonde made no move when the 01 pilot stood beside him, but Arianna turned her head to look at the deep blue eyes that ignored her.

He didn't look up from the unconscious form of his comrade. "If you would have taken Trowa's place, we would not have been able to receive Arianna's help. We would have remained in the desert with no idea of where to go or what to do. You would have died out there, Quatre; at least this way Trowa has a chance."

"But-"

"He's right."

Both of the young men turned their heads to look at her.

"For the most part. Except he left out the part where you kill everyone shortly after you die."

Prussian blue eyes narrowed slightly. "Clarify."

She just shook her head, taking a step back from the bed. "You'll see sooner or later, depending on how long John Doe over in 3-13 lives."

It wasn't long before the other two pilots awoke and the five young men and woman went to eat breakfast.

The Mess Hall, located towards the center of the base, was similar to the other buildings in the sense that the building was primarily built out of foot-thick steel, doors included. Inside there were only four rooms: kitchen, cafeteria, and men and women's facilities. The cafeteria took up the majority of the building, the high ceiling making the low buzz of multiple conversations echo. The room was packed from wall-to-wall with people sitting on long metal benches and eating on long metal tables. The food, still the oatmeal-esque concoction, hadn't changed. The group of five found a relatively empty space where the four boys sat on one side while the girl sat across from them. Shortly after they began eating, Maria and Katherine sat on either side of Arianna with their food.

"Good morning!" greeted Maria half-heartedly with a forced smile. "Did you boys sleep well?"

Her question was only given silence and nods from the four boys across from her as they continued to eat.

"Okay… well…" She scooped up some of her breakfast but didn't bring it to her mouth; she instead just looked at the light from overhead reflect off of the slimy mass. Several seconds later she dropped her spoon back into her bowl, sighing as she leaned back slightly and let her forearms rest on the table. She looked up at the four boys, who paused from their eating to raise their heads to look at her. "This is stupid. We haven't even been introduced. I'm Maria Hildayga."

The brown-haired young woman beside her said nothing; just continued to eat. A quick jab in the ribs from Maria's left elbow made her look up at the boys. "Arianna Hildayga." She continued eating.

The dark-haired young woman on Arianna's other side lowered her spoon slightly. "Katherine Johnson."

"Common name, not-so-common girl." Maria smiled slightly, almost as if it was an inside joke. "Anyway…" She propped up both her elbows onto the table and cupped her head in her hands. "So; what about you four?"

Heero, Wufei, and Quatre paused their meal while Duo continued, looking up at the woman as he chewed.

"Heero Yuy."

Katherine removed the spoon from her mouth. "That name sounds familiar. I think I've head it before."

"I'm Wufei Chang," said the Chinese young man with a small nod.

Duo paused in his eating, his spoon hovering between the bowl and his mouth long enough for him to grin and say, "Duo Maxwell," before resuming.

Quatre smiled politely. "I'm Quatre. Quatre Raberba Winner."

The people around them had apparently been listing in on their conversation. Immediately after Quatre finished his name slimy oatmeal spewed everywhere, a spray of grayish-tan goop coming from every other person around them. A glob landed on Heero's right shoulder. There was the sound of some choking. Several had frozen altogether, food falling from their open mouths and dropped spoons. Maria's eyes had suddenly widened. Katherine had a spoonful of breakfast halfway to her mouth, her mouth open as she gawked at the blonde. Several clumps of the slime fell from her spoon as she continued to stare. Arianna was choking on hers, hitting her chest with her fist as she weakly coughed. Heero and Wufei's eyes narrowed slightly as they looked around, noting the reaction of those around them. Duo and Quatre could only stare and blink.

"**Winner**!" Katherine suddenly stood up, her palms flat on the table as she leaned towards Quatre. "As in; the Winner Corporation up in L4!"

The entire building suddenly became quiet, everyone being able to hear the second of her exclamations. Quatre and Duo looked around; the blonde fidgeting when he realized everyone was staring at him. Heero and Wufei immediately tensed.

"Well… I was the heir back in 197…"

Everyone suddenly began whispering to one another and the buzzing resumed. Incredulous faces looked in Quatre's direction. Katherine suddenly sat back down, her elbows resting on the table and her head in her hands.

"This is just fan_tastic_… We've got a Winner here on Earth, _and_ in a Forgotten base… GDI's gonna shove a Walker down our throats for this one…" Many of the people around them looked at each other nervously when they heard the term "Walker".

Bewildered, the blonde glanced at the near-fearful expressions on people's faces. "What-"

"Right…" Katherine rubbed at her eyes a bit with the palms of her hands. "197. I forgot."

Maria let her hands fall to the tabletop. "The Winner Corporation has been the biggest company in existence for over 600 years; anyone having the family name has been treated like royalty for the past 125. They control everything from transport to home appliances."

Duo blinked and finally set down his spoon. "Well, who's running it now?"

"Andrew Winner. He's been head of the company since his dad retired fifteen years ago. Got the nickname 'Striker' from his business deals. There's a rumor going around that he's also secretly funding NOD-"

Quatre's muscles immediately tightened.

"- and that he manufactures weapons and supplies for them too."

The man sitting next to Heero suddenly hit the table with a fist, fury burning deep in his dark eyes. "I lost my wife because of him! She was going to have our baby girl in a few weeks when NOD attacked the city!"

An immediate uproar started, men and women alike in the entire cafeteria shouting out those they had lost because of Andrew Winner.

"He killed Randy! I lost my boyfriend!"

"I lost my parents!"

"My brother died because of him!"

"Our house collapsed on my fiancé when they shelled it!"

"He's responsible for the death of my entire family!"

"They killed my baby! He was only 18 months old!"

"We lost all three of our children because of him!"

"He built the bullets that killed our son and daughter-in-law! Now we're the only ones left to raise our grandchildren!"

"NOD was able to completely destroy an orphanage in my city because of him- while the kids were still inside!"

Amidst the shouting, Quatre slowly pushed his bowl away, no longer having the appetite to eat. His head had lowered and his bangs hid his eyes from the rest of the people. His words were so quiet they were barely audible over the noise.

"I… I'm sorry…"

He felt an arm move around his shoulders and hold him closer to a warm body. "Not your fault, man," came Duo's voice to his right, soft and reassuring. "You had nothin' to do with this."

"But… my family… the company my father struggled to keep… caused so much…"

"You _aren't _responsible in _any_ way; you hear me? Besides, it's just a rumor; maybe it's not true…"

The windowless guard tower stood at least twice as high as the walls. The four boys and one girl walked though the door-less doorway; each armed with a pair of black binoculars. The building was similar to the others in the base, walls made of thick steel and a dull gray. The bottom level was huge; it stretched up to the top level where the spotlight and guardsmen were. It was relatively empty, save a steel ladder that went straight up to the top level. Immediately upon entering, Arianna lead the group up the ladder.

A low grumble came from the back of the group, then a momentary silence. "When's lunch?"

The girl couldn't help but smile. "After we're done here. Although by the time we get there we'll have a long line to wait in."

"Aw man…"

Arianna was the first one to emerge from the small square into the top level of the guard tower, followed by Heero, Quatre, Wufei, and then Duo. As soon as Arianna got to her feet the two guards inside turned and smiled.

"Hey kiddo!" greeted one.

"Hey Andy! Hey Jack!"

Once they got up to the top, the four boys saw that the two guards were male and female. They both wore faded, worn blue jeans; the female wore a black tank top that was slightly tattered around the edges, while the male wore a gray tank top that had multiple stains. The woman, average height, appearing mid to late-twenties, had coca-brown hair that flowed from a tight ponytail down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were an amber color similar to Arianna's, only a shade darker.

The male guard was about two inches taller than the female with short, almost spiky black hair and dark eyes. He appeared about the same age as the other guard. His smile widened as he ruffled Arianna's hair. "These must be your friends you told us about; the newbies."

She nodded, smiling. She then turned to the four boys that had lined up before them. "This is Andrea." She put a hand on the woman's arm. "But everyone calls her Andy. And this is Jack." Her other hand rested on his arm. "They've been on guard tower duty together for about five years; it's how they met."

"In fact," added Jack, his eyes sparkling with amusement, "we like it up here so much, we're planning on getting married up here." Andrea just laughed, lightly touching a steel-colored bracelet on her right wrist. Heero and the others noticed a similar bracelet on Jack's right wrist as well.

"Rings aren't easy to find," explained Jack. "You'd be surprised what you can make with some scrap metal."

"Anyway," continued Arianna. "This is Heero, Quatre, Wufei, and Duo."

"You guys must be up here for the view, seeing as how you've got binoculars," commented Andrea.

"Yeah!" enthused Duo, taking hold of the binoculars around his neck.

"Well, then step right on up," smiled Jack, stepping aside to make room for the boys. "Just be careful not to lean on the controls."

The four young men stepped up to the control panel, getting closer to the glass-less window. The panel was full of multitudes of buttons and dials on the plane that was slanted, while the flat top ran all the way to the window was empty except a large gun on Andrea's side and a searchlight on Jack's side. The five young people lifted their binoculars and looked out the window.

Duo whistled. "Wow. That's a lot of sand."

"That's about the **only **thing we can see," added Wufei.

Andrea pointed out towards the northeast. "If you look further out in the distance, you'll be able to see a city over here."

The five younger people adjusted their viewing direction and saw that the city Andrea was talking about was as ruinous as the first city they had seen. Most of the white buildings left relatively standing had been reduced to first-level shells with no ceiling. The few skyscrapers that were left standing had holes of various sizes blasted into them, soot around the areas where the cement had been charred. One of the buildings had one side completely blown away, the individual levels and rooms visible and exposed to the elements. Sunlight glared in a blinding manner from a window that had managed to remain in one piece, reflecting the brilliant rays towards the observers.

"Yikes," commented Duo. "Those NOD guys don't take any prisoners, do they?"

"Rarely," answered Arianna, not taking her eyes off of the sight of a seagull hovering the buildings. "When they do, we assume it's usually for Tiberium experimentation. I don't know about you guys; but if I was given a choice, I'd much rather be dead."

"We're near the coast," observed Heero, noticing the seagull as it was joined by several more of it's kind.

Jack nodded, even though no one was looking at him. "Yep. West Coast. Arianna said she found you guys in the ruins of Malabu."

"**Malabu**?" cried Duo, dropping his binoculars and quickly turning to look at Jack, his face nearing horrified. "How could've that been Malabu? We're in the middle of a desert!"

"Malabu was destroyed in the fighting between GDI and NOD a long time ago," explained Andrea. "It was one of the first cities to go. The fighting caused a lot of fires that destroyed almost all plant life. Whenever it rained, the soil was washed away and plants couldn't grow anymore. Eventually it all became a giant desert."

"If that's true, then why were there still people there?" asked Wufei as he lowered his binoculars to look at Andrea.

Heero lowered his binoculars as well, but didn't look away from the ruins. "When we arrived in the Malabu ruins, there were corpses that had been dead for no longer than twenty-four hours."

Andrea shrugged. "Maybe they escaped from another city and decided to take refuge there. Probably thought NOD wouldn't look in a city they already destroyed. I guess they were wrong."

"Well, that certainly explains your clothing…" Jack eyed their attire, which was still the bloodstained clothes from the ruins. They had been so busy touring their new home and worrying over Trowa, they had forgotten about their otherwise gory appearance.

"We're still looking for clothes for them," explained Arianna as she and Quatre lowered their binoculars. "We're having some problems trying to scrounge up some their sizes."

Suddenly a screeching alarm came from the base behind them, making them all jump and quickly turn towards the noise.

"What's that!" cried Quatre. "What's going on!"

"One of the patients died!" Jack quickly turned to the control panel and put his hand on a large dial. Andrea quickly picked up her gun and ran to the other side of the tower, followed by the five younger people.

A male voice came from the speakers that were scattered around the base and sounding the alarm. "Emergency team to 3-13… This is not a drill. I repeat; emergency team to 3-13…"

From their vantage point, the six on-lookers saw that all pedestrian traffic had literally stopped. Everyone crowded around the nearest building, pressing themselves as close to the walls as they could. The roar of an engine soon became audible, coming from the infirmary and moving quickly towards them.

"Here they come! Open the gate!" called Andrea.

Jack turned the dial all the way to the left. A few seconds passed before the low rumbling of the gate lowering itself into the ground almost shook the floor beneath them.

A dark-colored jeep screamed by, the engine's roar escalating to a screech as it was pushed to go as fast as it could. The six returned to the other side of the tower and watched as the dark blur sped away, the four Gundam Pilots just barely being able to make out the four forms inside and the large gun on the top of the roll cage from the massive dust cloud caused by it's passing.

"You guys wanted to know what I meant by 'kill after death'?" called Arianna to the boys. "Watch." With that, she raised the binoculars to her eyes and the four followed, raising their binoculars as well.

The jeep continued on in a straight path for at least a quarter mile before sharply turning left, making a complete U-turn. The body of the dead patent was flung from the back of the jeep during the turn, rolling to a stop several feet away. The jeep didn't slow down; it drove straight for the open gate. The screech of the engine became louder again as sand spewed from underneath the tires. As it came closer, those wearing the binoculars were able to identify Maria as the driver and Katherine as the passenger. The person that had hauled the body out of the jeep was blocked by the large gun.

They didn't slow down once they neared the open gate; the jeep just kept right on going and didn't hit the brakes until they passed over it. As soon as the jeep was inside, Jack turned the dial all the way to the right, and the gate began to close. The five watchers moved their view to the prone form lying out in the sand. Andrea aimed her weapon at the still figure, a sniper scope emerging from the top of the weapon. Her eyes narrowed as she trained the crosshairs on the man.

For nearly twenty seconds, the base was entirely quiet. The alarm and the engine of the jeep had stopped. No one in the base so much as moved. Even the wind had stilled.

Then the body out in the sand suddenly jerked, the man suddenly flopping onto his back and his limbs moving spasmodically.

"He's moving!" cried Quatre in surprise. "He's still alive!"

"No he's not!" warned Andrea, her aim not wavering. "Just watch!"

After several moments, the four boys and two girls could make out a red blob fall from his mouth to the ground. Much to the surprise of the four boys, the blob stretched out with a pseudopodia-like extension and pulled itself onto the man's shoulder.

Several gasps were heard in the guard tower.

Still using the pseudopodia, the red blob seemingly dragged itself to the middle of the man's chest. Once there it moved onto his neck and hauled itself up onto his face. It was at this time the man's jerking became violent, him thrashing about much like the way Trowa had when Arianna was removing the Tiberium shard from his leg. The spectators were too far away to see what had happened exactly, but all of a sudden his entire head was covered in a shiny red substance similar to the blob, which had merged with the rest of the goo. The victim; or host, as it seemed at this point; continued to violently writhe. The red, viscous mass grew, quickly settling on the ground and taking form over the body of the man, which was still thrashing. He was only visible by the darker red silhouette of his body through the mass. Then, his body, starting with his limbs, began to seemingly dissolve, the silhouette of his legs and arms slowly shrinking into unrecognizable shapes until there was nothing left. The more tissue that was ingested by the red mass, the more a silver color came onto the surface of the mass. The man's head was the last to disappear, slowly dissolving into a U-shape before being ingested completely.

"_Don't move_," whispered Jack to the four boys, his voice low and warning for the first time. "Or you'll attract it's attention."

Silver swirled on the surface of the red mass, a face-less blob looking similar to an amoebae. Using pseudopodia, it moved left, then right, seemingly wandering aimlessly, almost as if it was confused. It then paused, seemingly to think, then moved away from the base without turning around. The speed it traveled at was amazing, considering it's size and mode of transportation. Andrea's crosshairs stayed at it's center, her finger on the trigger.

After it had gotten a half a mile further away, Jack slowly unclipped a hand radio from his belt. "Visceroid is moving east and is a mile away. Will notify when it has reached a safe distance." Then he put the back of the hand holding the radio to his mouth for a moment, his eyes lowering to the control panel. "No matter how many times I see it," he murmured, to the others in the tower as much as himself, "it's still disgusting."

The four Gundam Pilots dropped their binoculars. Duo rested his palms on the edge of the control panel, locking his elbows straight as he leaned over the metal. His head was bowed and his eyes had widened. His entire upper body trembled.

"W-w-wh-what… t-th-th-the… h-h-he…"

Quatre's eyes had also gone wide, and his upper body was trembling as well. His face had gone paler than usual.

Heero and Wufei's arms trembled slightly and their eyes narrowed.

Andrea hadn't moved; she was still tracking the visceroid with the scope of her gun. "Every time. Anyone that dies from Tiberium poisoning- that's what happens to them. Pray your friend gets better, because I've seen people die from less..."

Heero's hands clenched into tight fists as his eyes closed.

Wufei's arms began to tremble more.

Quatre fell to the floor, landing on his behind as his feet slid out from under him. Both of his arms wrapped around his stomach and his head lowered.

Duo also fell to the floor, landing sitting on his knees. His elbows rested on his legs with his face in his hands.

"Maria, this is Jack. We've got some cases of visceroid shock up in tower two."

"I'll be there in a minute…"

None of them came to lunch that day.

Author's note: I'm not responsible for any lost appetite, sleep, or breakfast/lunch/dinner.


End file.
